Safety device for medicine-cases



' (No Model.)

0. B. OMELVENY.

SAFETY DEVIGB FOR MEDIGINE GASES No. 344,055. PatentedJune 22,1886.

A .Z Z

UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

GURRAN BREEZE'OMELVENY, OF OENIRALIA, ILLINOIS.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR MEDICINE-CASES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 344,055, dated June 22,1886.

Application filed April 10, 1886.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OURRAN BREEZE OMELvENY,a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Oentralia, in the county of Marion and State ofIllinois, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Looking Devicesfor Preventing Mistakes in Dispensing Poisons, of which the following isa specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in looking devices to preventmistakes in dispensing or compounding poisonous medicines;

and it consists in the peculiar construction and combination of devicesthat will be more fully set forth hereinafter, and particularly pointedout in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a box provided withmy improved locking devices. Fig. 2 is partly an elevation and partly alongitudinal sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail perspectiveview. Fig. 4 is an elevation of a portion of the lid of the box from theinner side. Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view.

A represents a box or other compartment into which a poisonous medicineof any kind is to be kept.

B represents the hinged lid or cover of the box. In one side of the box,against which the lid closes, is made a longitudinal groove, 0, at asuitable distance from the outer edge or top of the box, and in the saidside, near one end, is made a recess, D, in which is pivoted a detent,E. The lower pivoted end of this detent is in the center of the recess,and the upper end of the detent is free to move to either side of theupper end of the recess. To the free edge of the lid, on the inner sidethereof and near one end, is secured a tumbler, F, which is providedwith a shank, G, that is journaled in an opening made in the lid, and tothe outer end of the said shank is attached a knob, H. This tumbler isprovided with a lockingarm, f, the outer end of which normally projectsbeyond the free edge of the hinged lid, and is adapted to enter thegroove C. At right angles from the locking-arm f extends a detent-arm,f.

I represents a spring, which is secured to the inner side of the hingedlid or cover. The free end of this spring bears against the outer sideof the locking-arm f of the tumbler.

L represents a series of tumblers,which are Serial No. 198.516. (Nomodel.)

similar in construction to the tumbler F, and are arranged side by sideon the inner side of the lid or cover. These tumblers have locking-armsZ, which normally project beyond the free edge of the lid or cover, anddetentarms Z, which extend at right angles from the locking-arms. Thedetent-arm f of the tumbler F bears against the locking-arm of theadjacent tumbler L, and the detent-arms of each of the said tumblersbear against the locking-arm of the adjacent tumbler in the series. Astop, M, is secured to the lid at the opposite end of the same, andagainst the said stop the detent-arm of the last of the series oftumblers L normally bears.

The tumblers L are provided with shanks, which are journaled in openingsmade in the lid, and to the outer ends of the said shanks are attachedknobs N.

The entire number of tumblers must be equal to the number of letters inthe word or the abbreviation of the word designating the contents of thebox or case. Thus, if morphine is contained in the box or case, theentire number of tumblers will be eight, corresponding to the number ofletters in the word, and beginning with the knob H one letter of theword will be inscribed or marked upon each of the tumblers in regularorder, as shown in Fig. 1.

The operation of my invention is as follows: In order to close the lid,the knob H, containing the letter M, is turned to the left, causing thelocking-arm f of the tumbler F to bear against the spring I and pressthe said spring inwardly until the said locking-arm reaches the stop 0on the inner side of the lid, when the spring will maintain the tumblerin that position. The detent-arm f of the tumbler will then projectslightly beyond the outer edge of the lid, and will thus release theadjacent tumbler L, which will be turned by turning its knob to theposition shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, and so on through each of theseries of tumblers L. The detent-arms of the said series of tumblers areshorter than the detentarm of the tumbler F, so that they do not project beyond the outer edge of the lid or cover. When the latter isclosed, the projecting rim of the detent-arm f passes into the recess Dand strikes against the inclined side of the detent E. As the cover isforced in,the said inclined detent releases the tumbler F from thespring I and partly rotates the said tumbler in the reverse direction,thereby causing the spring, by pressing against the locking-arm f,toturn the tumbler through half a revolution and cause the saidlocking-arm to engage the groove O. While the tumbler F is beingthus-turned by the spring,the motion of the said tumbler is communicatedto the entire series of tumblers L, causing the lockingarms of thelatter to engage the groove 0 simultaneously with the locking-arm of thetumbler F.

We will now suppose that the druggist is called upon to till aprescription in which morphine is one of the ingredients. In order toopen the box containing the morphine, the druggist first turns the knobH, having the letter M, to the left, causing the locking-arm to bearagainst the spring I, as previously described, and the detentarm torange opposite the lower side of the recess D. He next turns the knobhaving the letter O to the left, causing the said knob to release thelocking-arm of its tumbler from the groove 0, and so on to the rest ofthe series of knobs containing the remaining letters of the word,untileach knob of the series has been turned and the word spelled. All of thelocking-arms of the tumblers are thus disengaged from the groove 0, andthe lid is free to be opened.

As it is necessary, in order to open the box, to-spell the name of itscontents by turning the knobs, the attention of the druggist will befixed so closely upon the word as to prevent him making a mistake andgetting out the wrong medicine. In order to still more closely engagethe attention of the druggist to the name of the poisonous drug he isdispensing, it is advisable, when opening the box, to first turn theknob having the letter M, and then check off the same letter of the wordin the prescription, and proceed with each letter of the word, checkingeach letter on the prescription when the corresponding letterin the boxis turned.

Having thus described my invention, I claima 1. The combination, in acase for poisonous medicine, of the series of locking devices forsecuring the lid or door of the said case, the said series of lockingdevices having detents to prevent them from being withdrawn,excepting inregular order, and also provided each with the letter forming a part ofthe name of the medicine in regularorder, thus rendering it necessary tospell the name of the medicine in order to open the case, substantiallyas described.

2. The combination of the box or case hav- 6o ing the grooves G, therecess D, communicating therewith, and the detent E, pivoted in the saidrecess, and the hinged cover, with the tumblers F and L, secured to thesaid cover,

the tumbler F,having the locking-arm f, the

detent-arm f, adapted to engage the recess D, and the spring bearingagainst the lockingarm, the tumblers L being each provided with alocking-arm for engaging the groove 0, and

a detent-arm to bear against the locking-arm GURRAN BREEZE OMELVEN Y.

VVitness es:

J AS. BENSON,

I. ODELL.

